Cosmic Rubber
by RassenReaper
Summary: After the war at Marineford, Luffy and his crew are going to do all they can to get stronger for the New World. Luffy himself, stumbles upon something early on in his training that will change the course of history itself, and become legend. No one will be able to stand in the way of the future King of the Pirates.


**To fully understand this fic, you will have to have prior knowledge of One Piece, the events of Marineford and the aftermath. My fic starts after the news of Luffy spreads across the seas. I'm primarily going to focus on Luffy until the gang is reunited. This is going to be a slight AU after the time skip. Things will change and be changed as the story goes along. I'll probably gloss over some stuff as well, providing summaries where necessary. Luffy is going to be borderline OP in this fic. There will be a pairing with Luffy (Hint: it's the obvious choice). Luffy will become a bit OOC, but not drastically. So, there are all of your warnings.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

**This first chapter will follow canon pretty closely at first but there are some diverges, and then you'll see what I have in store for you all.**

* * *

"Jinbei, thank you so much, for everything!" Luffy yelled out over the side of the ship. The fishman had done so much for him. He had woken Luffy up out of his depression from Ace's death, helped him move forward.

"I don't need any of that, it is I who should be thanking you," the giant being said atop the whale-like creature he was standing on, "I asked for you to bring me to certain death back in Impel Down, only for me to survive, however shamefully. Yet I believe there is a day to come that you'll need my strength again. Anyway, meet me on fishman island in two years. I'll be looking forward to the call from your crew!"

"Yeah!" Luffy all but shouted, "And then you'll join my crew!"

"Bwahahaha! Only you would ask that from an ex-warlord! We shall see my friend." With that, the whale submerged itself and Jinbei into the ocean, both off to their homeland.

"Bye Jinbei!" Luffy yelled. Boa Hancock who stood behind the Straw hat wearing captain, the most beautiful woman in the world, couldn't help but smile with a blush at the man she was in love with.

X sometime later X

"Hime-sama! We've reached Rusucaina!" Rayleigh approached the side of the ship, Luffy close behind.

"This island is exactly what we need. It's known as forty-eight seasons, a harsh island, with seasons changing each week." Luffy, Rayleigh, Hancock, the Elder, and a small portion of the Kuja pirates got in a smaller boat and went to the island before them. Luffy gawked at the huge landscape before the group, Hancock often sending shy glances in his direction, causing the elder to roll her eyes more than a few times. Once they were all unloaded off the smaller vessel, Hancock approached Luffy.

"Luffy, I swear I'll visit every day and bring you provisions from the Isle of Women!"

"Whoooaaa! You really mean that Hancock! Can you bring that one meat Gorgon-what's-it-called?! It was super good!"

"O-of course! I shall bring anything that you desire! And that's the tenth time you've said my name," the snake princess squealed in delight, "is this what they call engagement?" Boa nearly fainted.

"No its nyot!"

Rayleigh stepped forward with a serious expression. "Hancock, I can't have you spoiling the boy. While Luffy trains, no one else is allowed on the island."

"AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN TELL ME WHAT TO DO?! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN DECIDE SUCH THINGS?!" Hancock screamed at the large, imposing man with a furious expression.

"It's not like we're going to go hungry. We have the trees, mountains, rivers, and ocean! Plenty of things to eat. And plus, how can you expect a pirate to survive without such basic survival skills? I'm doing this for Luffy's sake!" Hancock calmed down almost immediately.

"Well, if it's for Luffy's sake, I'll try to be strong," she said with hearts somehow appearing above her head.

"However," almost instantly, she adopted a tone of seriousness," I want visiting rights every six months! For one hour! I will be strong for Luffy so he can train adequately, but I will not deprive myself of his presence more than I have to since he is so close by!" Rayleigh only gave a sigh. He could tell this was probably going to be the best deal he could get with the obsessed Queen. Before he could agree however, another voice spoke up.

"Hancock-sama you mustn't! You have a kingdom-ya to look over and you myust be strong for your people and set a good example-ya!" Hancock glared at the elder with rage. The elder backed down, facing the fury of the current Queen.

"Last I checked, I'm the Queen of this kingdom and I will do as I please." Luffy, who wasn't paying much attention to the conversation looked over once Boa had become enraged. He just scratched his head, not really getting what was going on. Rayleigh weighed in once more.

"It's fine," he said exasperatedly, "but the only condition is you can't bring anything other than yourself to shore, that means no food! Luffy and I will have to fend for ourselves." She then turned to the old man.

"You know how dangerous this place is. If I arrive and anythings happened to Luffy…"

"If nothing happened then there would be no point to this training." Hancock could only sigh at this. "Fine Ray-san. I still don't have to like it," the pirate empress said grumpily, crossing her arms.

"Don't worry Hancock, I'll be fine! I can handle anything this island throws at me!" Luffy said with his trademark grin, holding up one arm with a hand on his bicep, this nearly causing the love-struck Queen to faint once again, her crew catching her.

"He said my name again, this is heaven." Luffy just laughed at her antics. Rayleigh had a knowing smirk on his face at Luffy's confident proclamation. The boy had no idea what this island had in store for him.

"Don't worry Luffy, I'll come visit every six months at this very spot to check on you and, and, and…" Hancock's face turned completely red," …and spend time with you!" Hancock hid behind her hands, incredibly embarrassed she said such a thing. This caused Luffy to laugh once more.

"Sounds good Hancock! I look forward to it!" Luffy replied innocently. Hancock at this point was stunned at her object of desire. Then, she actually fainted.

"Hime-sama!"

"Hancock-sama!"

The different respected iterations of the Queen's name could be heard throughout the group of Kuja pirates, who caught their captain as she fell. Luffy just laughed again.

**X sometime later X**

"Alright Luffy, now we're the only two humans on this island. They say an ancient civilization use to live here, but ultimately lost the struggle for survival. But behold, nature at its most dangerous!" As Rayleigh proclaimed the last part, both him and Luffy stepped out into a massive clearing from the jungle they were just walking through.

"Since this island is so perilous, the creatures that live here are monstrously strong, way stronger than you currently are. I'd say more than 500. So you better train hard if you want to sleep at night!" Luffy had a look of confusion.

"How are you figuring this stuff out?"

"That is one of the very powers you are going to master, and that power is Haki!" Just as Rayleigh finished, a huge elephant-like creature burst from the trees, threatening to trample the older man.

"Rayleigh look out behind you!"

"Now listen up Luffy, there are two fundamental types of Haki." As if to demonstrate, the pirate veteran closed his eyes, worrying Luffy more, but Luffy would be soon stunned by what he saw.

"The first, is observation Haki," the old man said as he effortlessly dodged the massive trunk of the beast that would crush any normal building.

"The second, is armament Haki." This time, as the elephant went up to stomp on its elusive prey, Rayleigh turned with a raised hand, enacting an invisible barrier that violently repelled the massive beast, knocking it to the ground with massive tears coming from its eyes.

"But there's a special third kind that very few people can only be born with," Rayleigh looked into the beast's eyes with an extremely stern expression, "Conqueror's Haki." Suddenly, as if the very air grew heavier, the massive creature passed out, foam coming out of its mouth.

"Whoa! That was awesome! But I think I've seen all of those before. The first one looked like what Enel could do, and that fat marine lady could do the second, and then Shanks with the sea king back in Foosha…" This brought a smile to Rayleigh.

"That's right Luffy. In Skypia, observation Haki is called mantra. Armament has been made into many forms, such as the arrows used by the Kuja pirates. And lastly, yes, Shanks is very much capable of using conquerors Haki, and as you just saw, so am I. Now normally, two years isn't enough time for someone to unlock, learn, and master Haki, but I think you can do it, the basics anyway. Hell, maybe even sooner. Given your track record, I shouldn't expect to be surprised by you at this point." This made Luffy grin ear to ear.

"Just you watch," Luffy laughed. "Oh, by the way, are there any safe spots on the island?"

"Why do you ask, Luffy, not looking for an escape from nature are you?"

"No, I just want to set my hat down while we train. It's time Straw Hat Luffy takes a break for a little while," Luffy said grinning. This in turn made Rayleigh smirk.

"I think I know a place. But before we do that, I think we've found lunch," Rayleigh said, indicating his foot towards the massive creature.

"MEAT," Luffy said in an almost guttural growl, drool pouring from his mouth. This made the old man laugh.

"After we eat and find a place for your hat, we'll start training right away."

"Yeah! I smell adventure!"

X 3 months later X

Luffy landed hard on the ground, causing a huge dust cloud to form from his impact. He looked up at the cliff he just vaulted from with concerned eyes. He again felt the ground tremble. Luffy snapped his eyes shut.

"Come on, come on, feel it's presence," Luffy concentrated, "where are you?" The tree line next to the small clearing burst, revealing a huge lion the size of a large house. Interrupting Luffy's concentration, the boy tried to face the lion down instead of running. Nothing had worked against it yet, but Luffy was going to find a way. He always did. The two faced each other down, staring at each other's eyes. Right before the two of them were about to go at it again, something caught Luffy's eye. In the sky, a reddish-brown object appeared to be slowly growing larger. Luffy raised him arm, pointing at the object, completely losing focus in what he and the lion were doing. The lion, not sure if this was a trick, hesitantly glanced in the direction Luffy was pointing. The creature too, became curious at the flying object. A few moments passed, and lion's eyes bulged out of its head, it realizing what it was, causing it to scamper away (well, as well as something that large could 'scamper'). This confused Luffy.

"What are you running away for? What is that thing!?" Luffy shouted, wanting answers. He stared at the object again, this time it was much brighter than before and was getting brighter still. Luffy's eyes slowly grew larger as he began to realize what it was.

"Is that, A METEOR!?" As he yelled this, the object flew overhead, then impacted close to the base of the tallest mountain towards the center of the island. Luffy was in shocked silence.

"That. Was. So. AWESOME! I have to go check that out!" the black-haired boy shouted with excitement, forgetting about the current inhabitants of the island. Surprisingly though, on his journey to the crash site, he didn't encounter any of the local wildlife.

As Luffy approached the crash site, he noticed that the temperature was increasing an uncomfortable amount. Ignoring it so he could see the cool thing that fell out of the sky, he cleared the last bit of trees, and he did indeed, see a meteor before him.

"COOOOOL!" Luffy yelled with stars in his eyes. Running up to the object, Luffy had a curious gaze. He stood at the foot of the meteor, it being only about one meter in length. Given the heat it was giving off, Luffy didn't think it would be a good idea to touch it. Luffy then bounced from place to place all around the object, inspecting it the best he could. After doing this for a brief period, the space rock began to crack, causing Luffy to raise his eyebrow. Finally, the rock split in half, revealing a small compartment in the middle of it.

"What is that?" the boy questioned. Upon closer inspection, it almost looked like a fruit! It was about the size of a pineapple, but it was round and smooth. It was white and also had no stem. The strange fruit began to emit strange sparkles around it, alternating from red, orange, blue, purple, and black. To say the least, Luffy thought it was the coolest thing he'd ever seen.

As Luffy was looking at the fruit like object, a sudden, terrible roar could be heard throughout the forest. Luffy looked down at the culprit.

"I'm hungry," he said with squinted eyes. He then looked at the fruit again, then back at his stomach. He then raised his fists in the air.

"SPACE FOOD!" Luffy quickly recovered and with a testing finger, poked the fruit to check the temperature. It was actually kind of cold! Luffy snatched the fruit up in his hand and bit down on the fruit, consuming half of it in one bite. Luffy's face was then drained of color, and his eyes began to tear up.

"Sorry meat, but this is the best thing I've ever tasted!" He quickly gobbled the rest of the fruit up. Expecting to be hungry still, he was surprised when his stomach seemed full.

"Huh. Mystery fruit," Luffy said, dropping his fist into his open palm. Luffy then began feeling a bad sensation inside him. He paled.

"Oh no, THAT WASN'T A DEVIL FRUIT, RIGHT?!"

**X another part of the island X**

Rayleigh had seen the meteor fall and was greatly curious about it. He had seen a lot of weird, unexplainable stuff in his time, but this was a first. He decided to investigate. After establishing a quick pace, he extended his observation haki and found that his student was very close to where the object had fallen. He was about halfway there when he heard something that chilled him to the bone. Luffy.

Rayleigh's eyes widened as he heard the blood curdling scream of Luffy who was obviously in tremendous amounts of pain. Like a switch had been flipped, the dark king vanished in an inhuman burst of speed, crossing the rest of the distance in a mere moment. What he found wrenched his heart.

Luffy was on the ground a short distance away from the meteor, writhing in agony. Rayleigh was instantly by the screaming boy's side.

"Luffy! What's wrong?!" he desperately asked, knowing he probably wouldn't get an answer. Rayleigh was on his knees, looking the boy up and down, trying to see how he could help. Then he saw it. Luffy's skin began to flake off. The dark king had seen this before. The power-hungry fools that tried to consume more than one devil fruit.

"Luffy you IDIOT! How could you eat another devil fruit when you know what would happen!? I know you wanted to get stronger, that's why we were here! This wasn't the way!" Rayleigh yelled at the boy. He sat back at a complete loss, watching the boy scream and writhe. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he looked away from the horrid scene before him. Rayleigh resolved himself to end the boy's life to put an end to the suffering he knew the boy was going through. No amount of torture that Impel Down conducted could even come close to the agony that was consuming two devil fruits. Rayleigh looked back at Luffy prepared to break the boy's neck, when he saw something that he hadn't seen. Different colors of sparkles began to surround the boy. Then he also saw how as his skin was flaking off, new skin would take its place, in a repeated process.

"Hold on, this isn't a death," Rayleigh said astonished, "this appears to be a transformation of some kind." Rayleigh gave the boy space, sitting close by to only watch, as that was all he could do. For the first time in a long time, the almighty dark king, first mate of Gold Roger, felt helpless. Luffy's agonizing screams could be heard throughout the island, giving chills to even the most ferocious of beasts present there.

"Hancock's gonna kill me."

**X Amazon Lilly X**

Hancock was currently in her chambers feeling depressed that she had to leave the love of her life all alone on that barbaric island. She was lying on her bed, her forearm resting on her head. She sighed and opened her eyes. She thought about how the last time she saw Luffy, he had thanked her and said her name. Oh what a wondrous time in her life. As she was reminiscing, she suddenly shot up from her large bed.

"What is this feeling?" She clutched her chest. Her heart felt heavy and her blood ran cold. Something was wrong. She panted, oxygen escaping her. She looked in the direction of the island that Luffy was on.

"Luffy," she whispered, her voice heavy with concern and worry. She launched herself off her bed and burst through her bedroom doors. The Kuja pirates that were standing guard were startled by the sudden noise.

"We're leaving!" Hancock exclaimed.

"To where your highness?" both guards asked simultaneously. The Snake Princess then adapted the face of a ruthless monarch that would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

"To Luffy."

**X with Luffy X**

Luffy's eyes blinked open. He felt his back against something kind of soft. It wasn't the ground, but it wasn't a bed either. He sat up to take in his surroundings.

"Where am I?" he asked himself, not recognizing anything around him. It was bright, but there was no light source. The ground was flat with small rolling hills in the distance. The ground itself appeared to be smooth, light brown rock, but it had give to it. It almost felt like rubber. After Luffy was done poking the ground, he stood up. He looked around again, but couldn't see anything of significance, so he decided to gum-gum his way up to the sky to get a better look.

"**Gum-gum**," Luffy's hands shot back behind him and up into the air. Since he felt the surface of the ground, he thought he should be able to bounce an attack off the bouncy rock and gain some air. His eyes grew wide however, because his arms didn't stretch like they should have, stopping him short. He brought his arms down in confusion. He clenched his hand, feeling something different about himself. He almost felt, normal, or like he had a normal human body anyway.

"What's going on? Why am I not a rubber man?" Luffy said with a bit of panic in his voice. His panic was interrupted however by a voice behind him.

"That's because I'm not letting you." Luffy whipped around to see who the new voice belonged to. He was stunned to see a very similar version of himself standing opposite of him. The mystery man didn't have a face or chest scar, and wore light brown shorts and a matching t-shirt. Luffy pointed his finger at the man and squinted his eyes in suspicion.

"Who're you?" The Luffy-not Luffy man responded.

"I'm you, in a way, I guess. And to answer your question again, I'm not letting you use them."

"Me? And use what?" Luffy was thoroughly confused at this point.

"Your rubber powers. They belong to me anyway. I just let you use them."

"Belong to you? They're my powers! I ate the devil fruit, not you!" Luffy yelled, growing more and more agitated by this mystery man.

"Exactly!" the man in tan responded with a big grin and his hands on his hips. "I'm your devil spirit!" the man said proudly. "And I couldn't have had a better host! Well, that was until you went and got greedy and ate another fruit!" The spirit's face morphed into a face of anger and betrayal.

"Hey! I was just hungry! That fruit didn't look like any devil fruit I'd ever seen! How was I supposed to know! And wait, devil spirit? What's that?" Luffy was utterly confused. The spirit sighed. He wasn't the brightest spirit by any means, but his host could stand to be little more receptive to new information.

"Listen, when you eat a devil fruit, you get a devil spirit, and that's how you get powers. Some people actually awaken their devil spirits, but usually people use the powers of the sleeping devil in their weakened state. Now that I'm awake, I get to choose if you're worthy to use my powers, and obviously you aren't because you went and ate another fruit!" the spirit finished angrily. Luffy held his head in his hands. I think I get it, but like I said I didn't know!" Luffy ended with his finger pointing at the spirit.

"Well it's too late now. I would be fighting the other devil for control but I can't find it. I'm surprised you're even here. You should be dying right now."

"Well I'm not! Now give me my powers back!"

"What part of "my powers" do you not get?" the spirit asked, getting ready to punch his host.

As the two were about to start fighting, a blinding light exploded in the sky, making the two cover their eyes.

"Ordinarily, you would be right Mr. Devil Spirit," came the voice of one of the most angelic beings either of them had ever heard. Once the light died down, both Luffy and the Spirit looked up at the descending being. The woman covered in white robes stopped and hovered a few feet above the ground, the two sides just staring at each other.

"Uh, who're you," both Luffy and his spirit asked with squinted eyes, both pointing to the floating woman. The woman had white, free flowing hair down to her low back. Her face was beautiful and had no blemishes. Her eyes were a grayish white, and had tiny, alternating sparkles of different colors in the irises. Her figure was mostly hidden by the white robes she wore, but underneath was a slender figure with ample curves. Overall, she could give Hancock a run for her money in the beauty department. She had a small, angelic smile on her face as she replied.

"I am Cosma, an Angel spirit, the angel spirit that was inhabiting the white fruit that Luffy here just consumed."

"Angel spirit?" both boys replied at the same time again. The angel chuckled.

"And the reason why Luffy isn't dying is _because _I'm an angel spirit. I've been sent by heaven to inhabit a certain devil fruit user," she explained, inclining her head to Luffy, who at this point had a flat expression with his pinky in his nose.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa hold on how can you and me be here at the same time? I why do I not get the urge to fight you for dominance?" the devil spirit spoke up.

"That is because we are in balance. You, a devil, and me, an angel. We are like yin and yang, flowing together in this boy. In perfect balance. Or at least we will be soon."

"I don't get it," Luffy said flatly, his pinky seemingly farther up his nose.

"That is something that I also hope to fix, as your devil fruit has hindered your maturity and ability to mentally develop. I plan to unlock your mind," the angel said smoothly with a slight smirk.

"Hey wait a minute, I think I just got insulted," the devil spirit said to himself. This made the angel smile again. She then held up her fingers, snapping them. In an instant, the blue sky above began accumulating planets, stars, and galaxies at varying distances. Luffy suddenly clutched his head, pain beginning to creep into his brain. And just as fast as it appeared, it vanished. Luffy blinked his eyes open for the second time.

"Do you feel any different, our champion?" the angel asked with a knowing smirk.

"Um, I don't think so?" Luffy then replayed everything the angel had said the past few minutes in his mind. For the first time ever, Luffy was deep in thought. The angel waited patiently and the devil anxiously for Luffy to speak up again.

"I think I get!" The angel smiled while the devil spirit gaped at the now smiling boy.

"So angel lady, what does this mean for me? You being here that is. Do you just mess with my head a little?"

"I see it's working already," the angel again smiled, "and no, you will receive the power of the cosmos itself. I have let you inherit the strongest power all three worlds of heaven, earth, and hell could offer. And with your devil spirit's potential, you will be the strongest being since recorded time. But not right away of course. With any power, it takes great effort to master, as you already know with your own training." Luffy smirked at this.

"Sounds like a lot of fun."

"Oh I'm sure it's going to be a great journey to experience with both of you," the angel said with a beautiful smile.

"I'm still not on board," the devil spirit said grumpily, arms crossed, "and what did you do to Luffy? He's actually, well, thinking!"

"I think I like it though, devil spirit," Luffy said to the stubborn spirit, "by the way, do you have a name?"

"Well, I do, and usually you'd have to naturally awaken me to know it, but I guess we're kinda in a special situation." The devil glanced at Cosma, her ever present smile on her face. "It's Gummer."

"Well Gummer, since I didn't eat another devil fruit, can I still use your power?" The devil was silent in contemplation for a moment before sighing.

"I guess. But you don't get the awakened power! You're definitely not ready for that!"

"That's fine with me! Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed. "I want to earn that power."

'We chose the right human after all,' the angel thought to herself.

"Now that introductions are over, let me explain some things," Cosma said, getting both boys attention. "Now that you have a hell spirit and heaven spirit combined with your own earth spirit, your soul is now in a complete power balance. Before, you had to experience the negative effects of eating a devil fruit, which makes the sea your enemy. Now that you have both yin and yang aspects instead of just one, those effects are now negated."

"What were the negative effects of eating an angel fruit?" Luffy asked, curious for information for the first time.

"Simple. If you were to eat an angel fruit, not only would it make you the enemy of land, but you couldn't be in contact with corruption, which is why all of the angel fruits had disappeared in what you humans call "the void century". Human corruption had taken a turn for the worst in that period. It all started-"

"STOP! I don't want to hear any more!" Luffy shouted with both his hands raised at the angel, "I'll find out on my own through my own journey! I don't want to spoil it for me or Robin!" Luffy shouted with slight anger.

'Luffy you are a remarkable young man,' the angel again thought.

"That's perfectly fine. What's important is that you understand your new power. As I'm sure you've realized, you can swim and be in contact with sea prison stone now and be unaffected." Luffy grinned at this.

"That's what I thought. That's the coolest thing ever! I can't wait to try swimming again after so long!"

"I wouldn't do it in front of people unless you had to," the angel warned, "the last thing you need is the so-called "World Government" catching wind of you having eaten an angel fruit. If they find that out, everyone you love and care about will most certainly meet their end. So you need to play it off as you just happened to survive eating two devil fruits. Only tell the truth to people you can fully trust," the angel again warned.

"Well that's my crew of course!" Luffy grinned his trademark grin. Both spirits smiled at this. "And with this new power, I'll protect them and help them achieve their dreams, while I achieve my own." Luffy couldn't help but think of Ace, not being able to protect him. That wasn't ever going to happen to anyone he cared about again if he could help it.

"And that Luffy, is why you are the perfect candidate. There was great debate in the heavens to allow this to happen, as the last time it happened, well, let's just say it didn't end well. It was the direct reason why angel fruits are not around anymore." This, in a way, humbled Luffy. He knew he was going to be King of the Pirates, to achieve freedom from everything, but he didn't ever think any further than that. All he wanted was to achieve his dream and the dreams of his friends, helping those who asked for it along the way.

"Moving on, now that you have come to your mindscape," Cosma gestured around with her hands, "we both are considered "awakened", allowing you to communicate with us when you need to in the real world. You can cut communication and your senses from us if you so choose. And of course, you can come back here to train your spirit powers so you don't have to destroy the outside world. Simply sit cross legged and close your eyes, and will yourself to return here. We can also help you develop your power with both fruits, and eventually combining them!" Luffy was star struck at this concept. This was the coolest thing to ever happen to him!

"That's super cool and all, but once I get a handle on my new powers, I think I'll want to come up with my own moves."

"That is your choice. We'll always be here if you have questions. It's going to be hard work, but I have faith in you, Monkey D. Luffy," the angel said with confidence. All three were smiling at each other, all excited for the future.

"What are we waiting for," Luffy said with a smirk.

"As you get stronger, don't forget to enjoy yourself Luffy, and hopefully, you find more ways to do so than you expect," the angel smirked at the now confused boy.

'What in the world does that mean?' was all Luffy could think before everything went black.

**X Rusucaina X**

Hancock had tears running down her face, sobbing as she held Luffy's head in her lap. She had witnessed the last hour of Luffy's agonizing screams. According to Rayleigh, he had been at it for little over an entire day. Hancock promised the grizzled old man a painful death if Luffy were to not make it, and a beating anyway for letting this happen to her beloved. But that had to wait, as Luffy needed her. They were at the beach where they first dropped the teacher and student off. Hancock had an entire bedroom suite brought to the beach for Luffy, with a comfortable bed for him to rest on. Rayleigh had insisted Luffy not leave the island in case something unexpected happened. The straw hat wearing boy had now been asleep for ten hours since his last screamed was uttered. Hancock hadn't left his side, not even leaving to eat.

"Hancock-sama! You must eat-ya!" the elder exclaimed. The Kuja pirates were docked a small distance away and everyone had been ordered by Boa herself to not come ashore unless she requested something. The only presence she tolerated was Rayleigh, as she couldn't stop him from hanging around, as much as it infuriated her. While on the bed, Hancock raised her hand to point at the elder while leaning back, looking straight up to look down on her.

"I thought I was clear no one was to come ashore unless ordered! That includes you!"

"Hancock-sama I'm just worried about your health-ya, you have to eat!" the former queen tried to plead.

"Leave my sight at once, you lousy excuse of an adviser!" The elder sighed in defeat, turning around to go back to the Kuja pirates ship.

"She's right you know. You really do need to eat something. You can't take care of him if you don't take care of yourself," the dark king spoke up. Hancock shot an intense glare towards the older man, but the intensity lessened as she looked back down at the sleeping form of Luffy.

"I can't will myself to do anything except worry for my, my, my beloved!" she stuttered.

'I can't believe I said it out loud!' Hancock screamed in her mind, but she quickly recovered, focused on the boy, no, the man lying on her lap. Rayleigh just shook his head. He looked over Luffy himself once the boy stopped going through whatever transformation he was going through. He didn't seem to change all that much, except that he seemed a bit taller and his muscles a bit more defined than before.

'That kid is something else. If he did eat a second fruit and _lived_, he's going to shake up the world even more than I thought,' Rayleigh thought to himself. 'Well, no point in waiting around here. I think I'll go for a swim.' Rayleigh began walking away from the bedroom like area with no walls and towards the ocean.

"I'll be back. You'll be alright won't ya Boa?" Rayleigh raised his left hand as he walked away, fulling trusting in Hancock's ability to defend herself and the sleeping boy. Hancock then realized she was all alone with Luffy, causing her face to heat up and for her to cover her face with her hands.

"No, I mustn't think about those things right now, I have to take care of him!" she said with conviction. She then felt Luffy begin to stir in her lap, causing her to look down excitedly expecting something to happen.

Luffy slowly blinked his eyes open, where he saw Hancock's upside-down face above him with a severe look of worry.

"Hancock?" This caused the snake queen to freeze for a moment before she scooped up Luffy's head and hugged his head against her soft chest.

"LUFFY!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

"Oi, it's hard to breath when you do that, let go," Luffy commanded, although he had to admit, he found himself enjoying the soft feeling.

"Oh I'm sorry Luffy!" she said letting go of his head. Luffy sat up, looking around. He noticed the sun was about to set, setting the sky on fire with colors.

"Luffy do you feel okay? Are you hungry? Do you want me to get you some food?" Hancock rapid fired questions. Luffy turned around and felt an unfamiliar feeling in his chest once he really looked at Hancock. It felt strange, but Luffy thought he liked it. Catching him staring, Hancock began to blush at the directed attention.

"Luffy, why are you staring at me?" Hancock asked as she began fidgeting nervously, starting to feel more than a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, you're just really pretty. I didn't really notice until now," Luffy remarked as he continued to stare, admiring her features, unaware of the effect his actions or words would have on the black-haired beauty.

Hancock's world seemed to stop. Was this a dream? A hallucination? Was it what they call, marriage?! Hancock fainted then and there, her body gracefully falling back onto the bed.

"Huh. Well that's weird. Not sure I've ever felt this before. But it's just because I'm looking at Hancock." Luffy looked away from her prone form, not quite understanding what was happening. He went through his mind to think of every girl he could think of that he knew and none of them elicited this kind of feeling from him, just when he thought about Hancock. Then his eyes widened in realization.

'Cosma? Is this thing on?' Luffy thought. The angel laughed in his head.

"Yes Luffy I'm here. What is it you need? Are you ready to start your training already?"

'Not quite. Can you feel what I'm feeling?'

"Since you, Gummer, and myself are of one spirit now, I in fact can. Why do you ask?" If Luffy could see Cosma, he would be able to see a giant knowing smirk plastered on her face.

'Why do I feel this way when I think about or look at Hancock? I didn't feel it before.' Luffy was confused and he wanted answers. Gone was Luffy the clueless. Whatever Cosma had done to his head unlocked a whole new world of thinking and complex emotions that he just couldn't quite understand yet. And he wanted answers.

"That might be because she is someone extra special to you Luffy. Someone you want to be by your side. Someone you care slightly more about than even your crew members. Someone you can have a special relationship with."

'Special relationship? What you're saying I do think is how I'm feeling, but I have no idea what any of that means or entails. I definitely don't want that marriage thing that she goes on about. I've heard that it restricts men and I want to be the freest man in the world. That's why I'm going after the One Piece. And I can't take her with me. She has her own kingdom to run.'

"You can have this relationship and still be free, you just have to explain how you feel to her. Because from what I can tell from your memories and now, she would want this 'special' relationship," the angel explained.

'Huh. I guess I'll give it shot when she wakes up. Thanks angel lady.' After Luffy unconsciously cut the communication connection between himself and his spirits, Gummer spoke up next to the angel.

"What are you up to? You're awfully conniving for an angel."

"Wow, that was a big word for you, I'm so proud!" the angel teased the devil.

"Hey! I'm not as dumb as I look! Now answer the question!" Cosma giggled at the response.

"All I wish is to see how Luffy changes the world, while also being happy himself. If he isn't happy doing all of this, what's the point? I don't want him to sacrifice himself and his happiness for this world. I want him and his happiness to be a part of the world. It has enough bad in it."

"Yeah okay all well and good but that doesn't explain why you're egging him onto the Snake Princess. You're just confusing him."

"I have faith he'll figure it out," the angel giggled once again. Gummer sighed and started to walk away.

"Faith this and faith that," the devil mocked under his breath.

"What was that dear Gummer?" Cosma asked with a hand up to her ear.

"Oh nothing!" Gummer yelled grumpily, but couldn't help but smile a little. The spirit wasn't really in favor with how things had turned out initially, but now, he didn't think it might be too bad."

**X back with Luffy X**

Luffy returned his gaze to Hancock.

"She probably won't be waking up anytime soon. I can sort out these mystery feelings later. I need to concentrate on getting stronger first." Luffy brought his hand up to his face and made a fist. He had two years to master his new power and Haki. It wasn't going to get done if he was distracted. He decided to leave a note for the sleeping Queen. Looking around the bedroom suite, he pulled open a drawer on the nightstand to the left of the bed. To his surprise, he found paper and a pen.

'Convenient,' he thought. After he wrote down what he had to say. He looked over to the sleeping form of probably the most beautiful thing he had ever remembered seeing. He then felt the cold breeze coming off the vast ocean.

'I'm sure she wouldn't mind.'

**X the next morning X**

Hancock stirred from her slumber, slowly opening her eyes to the bright sun that was an hour past risen. She sat up and yawned as she stretched her arms out. She then noticed she was under the covers, which she was thankful for because it was a cool morning. She looked around and saw ten Kuja guards surrounding her makeshift bedroom, Luffy nowhere in sight.

"Where's Luffy!" she shouted out, expecting an answer from one of her pirates. All of them continued to face away from the bed to give the Queen privacy.

"Hime-sama! Straw Hat Luffy came aboard our ship last night saying you had fallen asleep on this dangerous island, and that he was leaving to continue to train! He also wanted to make sure you got the letter he wrote to you! I believe it is on your nightstand hime-sama!" one of the guards replied. Hancock, looking the said nightstand found a piece of parchment under a rock. She gingerly took the paper in her hands.

'Could this be what they call...,' she began to think before yelling aloud, "a love letter!?" Hearts began rising above her head from, somewhere, as she clutched the note to her chest. She slowly brought it to her face to read its contents:

"Hancock.

Thank you for taking care of me while I was out. I really appreciate it. After I get done with these two years, give me a lot of meat. The gorgon meat! Definitely some of that! I moved you under the blankets last night because it was a little cold out. I hope you don't mind. I also think you are special to me, but I'm not sure how yet. But I'm going to focus on training for now. I hope you understand. Going by Rayleigh's rules, I hope to see you in 9 months.

Luffy"

Hancock let the note fall out of her hands as they started to shake. Her eyes wide. She was utterly shocked by what she read and almost couldn't process it. She kept repeating "special to me" over and over in her head before she couldn't take it anymore.

"LUUFFYYYYY!" She all but shouted, the entire island hearing the pirates name, causing a certain someone to smile for reasons unknown to him. Hancock had fainted once more, landed on the pillow this time. The elder watched on as she stood off to the side near the tree line.

"She's gyot it bad-ya. Love sickness," she said to herself, shaking her head.

**X opposite end of the island X**

Rayleigh was staring Luffy down as the now man in question stood with a massive grin on his face.

"You okay Luffy?" Was all Rayleigh asked.

"Yup! Better even! The best I think I've ever been!" Luffy replied, rubbing his finger under his nose."

"You've got some explaining to do, but that can wait until later tonight. Let's begin again, shall we?" Rayleigh said with a smile. Seeing Luffy now, he was notably taller, almost as tall as Rayleigh himself, and his muscle definition was not something to scoff at. He also noticed that there was something different about Luffy's personality. He seemed almost like, he wasn't as dumb? Rayleigh was excited to see just what had happened to the scar bearing man.

"I thought you'd never ask," was all Luffy replied, before orange, blue, and black sparkles began emanating around him. Rayleigh took note of this and smiled wider than he already was.

"I have a feeling these 2 years just got a whole lot more interesting." They both vanished in bursts of speed, both eager to test the new Luffy.

* * *

**So. This is just an idea I thought up and wanted to write down. Not sure if I'll update it, if at all. I guess it depends on how everyone reacts to it. I don't think it's perfect, but I can always rewrite it if this turns out to be a thing. Review if you have ideas. Hope you all enjoyed it!**

**EDIT: I rewrote some parts of this chapter based on a suggestion I got, and also to make some parts flow a little better.**


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